One year anniversary

Better late than never!  The Sunbow Marvel script/storyboard archive celebrated its one year anniversary on June 10th. 

Since launching, the archive has expanded beyond anything I thought possible.  Covering 13 years worth of shows, movies, miniseries and pilots:

• 91 full or partial scripts
• 118 dialogue scripts
• 73 full or partial storyboard sets
• 43 model sheet/cel files
• 7 show bibles or writer's guides

Not counting concept art, memos, outlines, voice actor call sheets and much more

Thank you to everyone who has contributed scanned material over the past year.

There is still a lot more out there to be preserved, so if any owners are willing to contribute, please message the archive.

Here's to the second year!

May 2020 update

Here is a roundup of additions and changes to the archive for May:

MP 100 The Incredible Hulk

Added sample pages from both the outline and the full script for Prisoner Of The Monster, written by Susan Misty Stewart (Misty Taggart).


MP 700 Transformers

• Completed the 9th digital reconstruction of a Ron Friedman-revised script, back to first draft dialogue.: Doug Booth's Roll For It
• Received a contribution by NeverDoubt of the first draft script for Fire In The Sky
• Added low-resolution samples of storyboards for The Immobilizer
• Separated the More Than Meets The Eye script into it's three parts, for ease of loading and reading.

MP 5204 Moondreamers

Added 6 pages of samples from the show bible, created by future Spider-Man TAS showrunner John Semper and Cynthia Friedlob.

Martin Pasko 1954-2020

It was announced on Mark Evanier's blog that writer and story editor Martin Pasko has passed away at the age of 65.  The Sunbow Marvel Archive wishes to express condolences to his friends and family.

A full list of his work that is covered by the archive is below, followed by the video of one of his finest works:  The GI Joe two-parter, Worlds Without End

Dr Strange And The Mystery Kids
In late 1981, Martin was commissioned by Marvel Productions to write the Preliminary Development document for a potential Dr Strange cartoon pitched to NBC, spinning off the Doctor's appearance in Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends.
NBC balking at some elements of the property that could be interpreted as "satanic", along with Marvel's subsequent refusal to water down the concepts, led to the pitch being rejected.
Martin sold the development script in early 2013: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unique-item-dr-strange-fans-411883048

MP 100 The Incredible Hulk
The Creature And The Cavegirl (partial storyboard available)

MP 600 GI Joe
Operation: Mind Menace
Worlds Without End part 1 and 2
Cobrathon (with Rebecca Parr)

MP 5201 My Little Pony
Story Editor for 61 episodes (with Rebecca Parr)
Writer: Fugitive Flowers, part 1 and 2 (with Rebecca Parr)

MP 6610 Bucky O'Hare And The Toad Wars
Kreation Konspiracy (full script available)

93-400 The Tick
Story editor for 6 episodes
Writer: The Tick vs the Breadmaster


Worlds Without End, part 1

Worlds Without End, part 2

April 2020 update: 10 in 10

Just wanted to say thank you to all viewers and contributors for getting the archive to 10,000 views in 10 months. 

I haven't done an update post for a couple of months, but have been busy adding to the archive on a near-daily basis.  The additions include:

• Various model sheets/cels, height charts and concept art from Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, G.I Joe, Muppet Babies and the Pryde Of The X-Men pilot.  Including work by John Romita Sr, Russ Heath, Rick Hoberg, Bruce Timm and Alex Toth.
• Various one and two-page storyboards for Jem music videos
• For Transformers, pages from the outline, and the unedited pages to Act I of the dialogue script for Chaos.  The first page of the outline and the handwritten "Beats" chart for Grimlock's New Brain
• The official video for the first three miniseries of GI Joe
• More official video of Defenders Of The Earth, including three of the four "movie" releases: The Story Begins, The Book Of Mysteries and the Prince Kro-tan arc.  The fourth, The Necklace Of Oros, will be linked once posted to YouTube by ComicsKingdom

As always, if anyone out there has access to any full scripts or storyboards and is willing to consider contributing scans to the archive.  Please get in touch via the "Contact" link.  For scanning from home, some contributions have already been made using Adobe Scan: https://acrobat.adobe.com/uk/en/mobile/scanner-app.html

For one-page items, such as a voice actor call sheet or a memo, a flat photo will do the trick.

Here's to the next 10,000

Unproduced projects

Doctor Strange And The Mystery Kids - 1981
In late 1981, Marvel Productions hired Martin Pasko to write the Preliminary Development document for a proposed Doctor Strange cartoon to be sold to NBC for the 1982 season.  Spinning off the Doctor's guest appearance in Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends.

According to Pasko when he sold the document in 2013, NBC rejected the pitch as they felt the mystical elements and the villains could be interpreted as "Satanic" and Marvel refused to water down the concepts any further.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unique-item-dr-strange-fans-411883048

The Mysterians - 1983

An early entry into the 1980s transforming robot craze.  New Jersey-based toy company Knickerbocker, after an unsatisfactory effort by DC Comics, approached Marvel Comics to develop a monthly comic, pack-in comics for the toys and an animated special.  Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter developed the backstory and treatment for the first story, much to Knickerbocker's delight.

In December 1982, Shooter, publisher Mike Hodgson and other Marvel staff attended a meeting with Knickerbocker executives to discuss the planned launch of the franchise.  The meeting started three hours late, with the executives described by Shooter as "ashen-faced and nervous" and "going through the motions".  The meeting included a conference call with Dennis Marks, Marvel Productions' Head Of Development.  It transpired that Marks had ignored Shooter's treatment and come up with another one involving "cute, wacky, goofy kids and a dog".  Knickerbocker were aghast, stating they wanted what Shooter had developed.  Which in turn, left Marks stunned*.

Shooter and company headed home wondering about the meeting, speculating about a possible company shakeup at Knickerbocker.  The next day, they found out that the shakeup was that Knickerbocker had been bought out by Hasbro.  At that point, all plans for the Mysterians were dropped.  Though the toy designs would not go to waste, as they found their way first to Takara's Micro-Change line, then to Transformers as the Autobot mini-vehicles Huffer, Brawn, Gears and Windcharger.

* - The "kids and a dog" premise popularised by Scooby-Doo had been relentlessly copied during the 1970s.  Marvel Productions spent its first three years applying this tired formula to pitch after pitch.  Successfully selling it to networks on Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends and Meatballs & Spaghetti.  It was attempted on Dungeons & Dragons until D&D creator Gary Gygax intervened and insisted the dog be made a unicorn.  Even after Dennis Marks was fired from Marvel in 1983 - the executives of both NBC and CBS refused to deal with him - this formula would be attempted at least one more time on transforming robots.... 

For more details on the Mysterians' development, head to Jim Shooter's blog

http://jimshooter.com/2011/06/secret-origin-of-transformers-part-1.html/

The Incredible Hulk & The She-Hulk - 1983

Written by Misty Stewart (Later Misty Taggart) in early 1983 as a means of retooling the previous year's Incredible Hulk cartoon, presumably as a last-ditch effort to persuade NBC to renew the series.
Changes included rewriting the Hulk to be less like the comics incarnation and more like the live-action TV series which had ended the year before.  Also to bring back She-Hulk as a regular supporting character. (photos taken from ebay auction). https://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-INCREDIBLE-HULK-THE-SHE-HULK-1983-Unproduced-TV-Script-Presentation-Idea/124063444962?hash=item1ce2c1efe2:g:vi0AAOSwADReMAAW

"Car And Cable" 1983/84

Originally appearing in an article about Marvel Productions, in the pages of Marvel Age magazine in 1985.  A pitch titled Car And Cable showed a transforming Volkswagen in a comedic setting with three kids and a dog.  Long assumed to be Marvel's attempt at producing a knockoff to their own success story in The Transformers...

That was until March 2020 when Instagram user consumercollectibles contacted this archive and others to show the original pitch artwork, revealing a previously unseen piece that shows this was in fact an early pitch for Transformers

It is unknown at time of writing exactly where this pitch falls in the development of The Transformers.  Whether it was conceived in summer 1983, when Hasbro first acquired the toy license and according to Buzz Dixon, were shopping the concept to every production studio in LA.  Or whether this came after the Jim Shooter treatment seen in the main Transformers section.  Marvel Productions head David DePatie was reported to be openly hostile to Marvel Comics.  As mentioned above, allowing his development team to outright ignore the treatments being sent over to them.

Air Raiders - 1987
Intended to be the next major Sunbow and Marvel co-production in 1987, promoting the new toyline.  Ron Friedman and Doug Booth worked on development of a potential cartoon through the summer of 1986, with Friedman writing a three-part pilot by January 1987.  Unfortunately, the dual slump in syndicated cartoon ratings and toy sales - due to oversaturation of both - led Hasbro to cancel the project and end all new funding for toy-promoting cartoons once the existing contracts for Jem and Visionaries were completed.

Press pack

Ron Friedman material (Heritage Auction previews only).

Captain America and The Avengers - 1990

As he recently uncovered from his storage, Flint Dille worked with Stan Lee on developing an Avengers series to sell to ABC.  The network felt there wasn't a market for it and passed on the pitch.

Flint would work with Marvel Productions again in 1991, as story editor for season 2 of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.

Siegfried & Roy 
Pitch material created in 1992, intended for 65 episodes in 1993 season.  The plans fell through and Marvel Productions was reorganised into New World Animation that year, taking Biker Mice From Mars forward under the new banner.

Concept art (20 pieces)
Pilot storyboard (14 pages) Will Meugniot

Miscellaneous

The following pitches were revealed in an article covering Marvel Production in Comics Feature magazine issue 33, cover-dated January 1985.  Full scans can be found at: http://starlogged.blogspot.com/2012/01/marvel-productions-in-198485.html

Daredevil

Ant-Man

Iron Man

The Monstress

Teen Hulk

Hulk Hound

Other

Wacky Wacky West - year unknown

David Wise 1955-2020

The Sunbow and Marvel Archive wishes to express it's condolences to the family and friends of David Wise, who passed away of lung cancer on March 3rd.

David Wise' Facebook page announcement

On a more personal note.  As a kid growing up in the UK in the 80's and 90's.  The thing that hooked me on Transformers were the Video Gems VHS tapes.  In particular, the three episode tape of The Key To Vector Sigma and War Dawn.  We had that tape from near it's release in 1986 until the turn of the century when we abandoned VHS for good.  By that point, the tape was so degraded that the sound effects often overrode the dialogue.  Even now, though the episodes are technically a two-parter and one standalone, it is hard not to think of them as a trilogy.

They are stories that have stuck with me for nearly 35 years of my life.  Even in later years when my interests were elsewhere, it was always something I would come back to eventually.  Leading to properly discovering the rest of the Sunbow/Marvel shows in the past two or three years, eventually leading to the creation of this website.

The full list of David's works within the scope of the archive. * - indicates that an item of production material is available to view at the archive.

MP  700 Transformers

19 Attack Of The Autobots *
24 Day Of The Machines *
33 Microbots *
42 Make Tracks *
45 The Secret Of Omega Supreme *
47 Kremzeek! *
51 Auto-Bop *
53 The Girl Who Loved Powerglide *
55 The Key To Vector Sigma, part 1 *
56 The Key To Vector Sigma, part 2 *
58 War Dawn *
59 Trans-Europe Express *
6701-01 The Rebirth, part 1
6701-02 The Rebirth, part 2
6701-03 The Rebirth, part 3


MP  900 Defenders Of The Earth

38 Audie And Tweak *
Flesh And Blood
The Mystery Of The Book
The Book Of Mysteries
The Gods Awake
The Starboy
Fury Of The Deep
The Ghost Walks Again
The Prince's Royal Hunt
The Prince Weds
The Prince Triumphant
The Prince Dethroned
Return Of The Skyband


MP 5201 My Little Pony

11 The Revolt Of Paradise Estate, part 1
12 The Revolt Of Paradise Estate, part 2
27 Through The Door, part 1
28 Through The Door, part 2
58 Somnambula, part 1
59 Somnambula, part 2
60 The Ice Cream Wars
61 The Prince And The Ponies


MP 5205 Jem

25 Culture Clash
48 Renaissance Woman


Conan And The Young Warriors

01 Isle Of The Lost
12 Once A Thief (with Bryce Malek)

February 2020 update

This month the archived has brought together....

A selection of storyboard pages for MP 4064 Pryde Of The X-men.  Marvel Productions' attempt at an X-men pilot, produced in 1987 but not aired until 1989.

MP 6000 Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends

The last 27 pages of storyboards for VideoMan

MP 600 GI Joe

Storyboards for:

• The commercial for Marvel Comics issue 14, which saw the debut of Destro
• 17 pages from 31 Cobra Quake
• All but five pages from the season 1 main title.  It appears that this title was created bespoke for the Pyramid Of Darkness miniseries.  However due to the miniseries being written and produced so late in the run (episodes 37-41), yet due to be aired first.  It seems this title was edited and used on the whole season.
• The commercial for Battleforce 2000.  Part of the 1988 toyline and one of the last Marvel Productions' storyboards for GI Joe as full-length cartoons came to an end and Sunbow looked to TMS to produce commercials for the remaining toylines

MP 700 Transformers

• The call sheets for Hoist Goes Hollywood, Chaos and Dark Awakening have been donated and attached to the respective dialogue scripts.
• The Dark Awakening dialogue script has been replaced by an unedited version showing deleted lines
• The 1st page of the outline for Cosmic Rust, revealing a starring role for Shockwave that was removed in the full script
• The 1st page of the outline for Chaos, showing a flashback to Kup's time as a slave mining death crystals, which was originally intended to be a Quintesson operation

MP 900 Defenders Of The Earth

The main title storyboard, only parts of which were animated and edited together with footage from early episodes.  View the official video of the intro at the Defenders page for comparison.

MP 5205 Jem

Storyboards for:

• Both the initial draft and revised version of the main title sequence
• Roughs and final storyboards for the first four pages of the Glitter and Gold music video (The big reveal of Glitter and Gold Jem).
• Roughs and final storyboards for Jem And The Holograms, The Misfits and The Stingers' music video: Now

In addition, the site has been supplemented by video links from the official Hasbro YouTube channels.